Delayed Reconstruction

This past weekend we also ended up hanging around Tokyo Station as that is one of the limited number of places where you can get on the Shinkansen.  Chad had heard somewhere about a massive renovation of one historic side of the station.  So we walked over to check it out.  Even though it's a construction zone, it was still open for people to walk through.  Many of the dividers to keep people out of certain areas had photos of the station and information about it's history.

Turns out that the station (built in 1914) was bombed during WWII and only partially rebuilt afterwards.  Now it's being completely refurbished to a pre-war state.  This includes, among other things a huge, luxury hotel which we hope to stay in at some point.  Here's a news article about the renovation and history of the station.

It was interesting because you don't see much architecture like this at all in Tokyo.  My photos don't really show it that well, but it's pretty much squatted down in the middle of shiny metal and glass skyscrapers.

Kicked Back in Kyoto

This weekend we took a long-planned trip to the city of Kyoto.  Kyoto is a very old city, first founded in 794 AD.  It was the capital of Japan (and the seat of the Imperial Court) from that time until the late 1800's when the capital was moved to Tokyo.

Kyoto has had a lot of fires and earthquakes over the centuries but it was spared during WWII because of it's cultural and historical significance.  So there are an unusual number of pre-war buildings still standing including a bajillion temples and shrines.  From my perspective, it seemed like wood is used more for buildings there.  There wasn't quite as much concrete.  The skyline was much lower than Tokyo.  And the city seemed to be surrounded by perpetually misty mountains.

Typically when we travel we stay in large chain hotels so we know what to expect but for this trip I convinced Chad to stay in a small boutique hotel in the Gion district.  Gion is famous and familiar for being where geisha (or geiko, as they call themselves) have lived and worked for decades. 

I really wanted to get photos of one but they are hard to catch as they aren't really there for tourists and tend to actually avoid people.  They work in the extremely exclusive and expensive teahouses as entertainers, making tea, singing and playing instruments.  I read the book Memoirs of a Geisha years ago and while I now very much doubt it's accuracy (geisha are not prostitutes) I enjoyed it very much at the time.

Anyway, we did see one right as we were leaving but, of course, I didn't have any camera nearby and we were speeding by in a taxi.  So you'll just have to take my word for it.  She was wearing a beautiful peach and white flowered kimono, the complete head-gear and full white makeup.  She was standing on a street-corner waiting to cross, looking like she did it every day.

our hotel

the lively Shijo Street at night

side of the 300-year old Ichiriki teahouse
(worth reading about at the link)

houses on a river in Gion

Gion stone street

Another thing about Kyoto that I feel the need to mention is the food.  Namely that there is not a lot of western food at all.  We ended up asking the hotel concierge to recommend a tempura place for our first night.  We asked for tempura because at least we know that everything is pretty much fried in a batter.

The experience demonstrates perfectly why we are a little cautious about walking into Japanese restaurants.  The restaurant had a "set menu" which pretty much means you don't order, you just eat whatever they bring you.  See, the thing is, once we get in a Japanese restaurant and sit down, we commit and do our best to not act like clueless foreigners.  I would probably do really well on Fear Factor if all the creepy-crawlies were brought to me by a sweet little old Japanese lady who I didn't want to offend.

We started the meal off with what appeared to be a fried spider (pretty sure it was some kind of shrimp and it tasted like a pork rind).  We ate eel, sea urchin, mussels, lotus root, jellied fish broth, jellied egg custard and the ubiquitous octopus.  We had a salad which I initially thought had fried onions on it.  Then I realized that the "onions" had eyeballs.  Deep-fried baby minnows.  Dessert was soybean goo.  For the record, we did have some good fried shrimp (normal and headless, miraculously) and some delicious fried scallops.  We tried everything and ate most of it.  We were almost the only customers and were being observed by the very nice chef because we were eating at the bar and he was enjoying practicing his English on us.

(Incidentally, the baby was not amused by all this and retaliated with a particularly vicious case of heartburn.)

The next day we decided to go to the famous Kinkakuji, which is also known as the Golden Pavilion because it's covered in gold foil.  The pavilion, which is part of the Rokuon-ji Temple complex, was built in 1397 by a shogun.  It burned down (arson) in the 50's but was rebuilt immediately.  It isn't an operational temple anymore (no priests) but is instead a tourist trap and a nice place to take photos.

crowded

belfry on the way in

with the reflection in the lake

on the backside (you can actually walk really close to it)

several of these were set up around the grounds....those are coins.  if
you get your coin in the little pot you cheer and jump up and down.....
perhaps because your wish was granted?

surrounding lake and gardens

Leaving On A Fast Train

Included on our unofficial list of things to do while we're here was to take a trip across the country on the Shinkansen, also known as the famous "bullet train".   So to get to Kyoto this weekend we bought tickets and checked the Shinkansen off the list. 

The first Shinkansen started service in the 60's just before the Tokyo Olympics.  It travels at about 186mph although it has broken world records at 300+ mph in test runs.  We made the trip from Tokyo to Kyoto (almost 300 miles) in about 2 1/2 hours.  In the map below, we went almost the entire length of the yellow line.  One day we want to try taking the long green line to Hokkaido in a sleeper car.

One thing that really surprised us was the pressure that you feel in your ears when you're on the train.  It was similar to airplane pressure, but our ears never popped and swallowing/chewing gum didn't help at all.  We just had to deal with it.  We think it was because our elevation was changing so quickly---it was especially noticeable when we went through tunnels.

Also, we went right past Fuji-san (aka Mt. Fuji) but he continued to hide from us (in the mist and clouds) as he has for the past year.  :(

walked down to the front for photos

we rode the 700 series

We also splurged on "green car" seats.  These are a little nicer and roomier, kind of like going business class.  But there was a little more room than you get in business class on a plane. And it was a little expensive.  Round trip for both of us was several hundred dollars.

inside the Shinkansen green car

Baby Swim Class

This week one of the other expat wives asked me if I would bring my camera to her baby's swim class.  It was "picture day" and she wanted it documented for posterity.  Of course, I agreed, both because I like to play with my camera and because I was interested to see (and blog about) the pool facilities.  Plus, a baby swim class is bound to be both adorable and entertaining, right?

The pool facilities are part of the Antares Sports Club.  Chad actually has a free (or possibly just heavily discounted?) membership through his company, but oddly enough I am not allowed to go unless I am with him.  Currently the chances of both of us getting up the motivation to go to the gym together are slim to none, although we did do it a few times back in Greenville.  The day may come when I want to check out classes (and possibly paying for my own membership) but don't hold your breath waiting.

Anyway, the location we were at was pool only so I didn't get any gym photos.  And for the record, it was pretty adorable. ;)



the entrance



the pool before class

calling roll and singing a group song before beginning
(and me trying to keep my lens from fogging)

starting class (it was an extra big class both because of
picture day and it being a holiday)



lining up

here (with her mother's permission) is my little model

and I can't resist posting a close up of this kid, who cracks
me up because she's hoarding both a ring and four balls

The Saga of the Neighborhood Social

So last year about this time our next-door neighbor came over and told us that the yearly neighborhood social was coming up.  She said there would be food and drink and gave us a ticket for a free serving of yakisoba (a popular noodle dish).  The flyer she gave us was all in Japanese but she told us that it would start at 11am and that it was in "the park". 

Now, there is a small grassy playground area around the corner from our house.  And then there is an actual small park (seen here) a few blocks away.  I had no idea which one she was talking about but just knew it wouldn't be too hard to figure out.  Anyway, on the day of, I got ready to leave around noon (thinking it had to last at least a couple of hours) but then met my neighbor in our driveways on the way out.  She told me it was already over and I'd missed it.  So.....it didn't last two hours.

Fast forward to a few days ago.  Another neighbor (seriously, they take turns) comes by with the flyer and the yakisoba ticket.  She, like the previous neighbor, speaks a little bit of English---about as much as I speak Japanese.  She tells me that it starts at 11am and that it's in "the park".  Sounds familiar.

So today was the day.  (If you're wondering about Chad, he had to go to the bank in Tokyo to try to get a Japanese credit card.  Plus, honestly, he has zero desire to socialize with the neighbors.) Based on last year's experience, I was ready at 9:30am.  I walked down to the small playground area to check it out and there was nothing there.  So I drove down to the actual park and there was nothing there.   But I met this year's neighbor on the way back and stopped and she informed me again that it was in "the park" but this time she pointed toward the actual park.  And she said "but not start until 11am!".  OK.  Got it.

So by this time I'm determined.  I'm going to find out what is going on or go down trying.  So a little after 11am I get in the car and drive down towards the park.  But just before I reach the park I see a crowd of people in a lot under tents and my neighbor waving at me frantically.  She pointed me towards a tiny spot where I could squeeze my car (I should've just walked it).  And so....the social wasn't even in the park.  It was in a tiny gravel lot near the park.



ta-da!

It turned out to be mainly a few food tents.  My neighbor had already collected some food for me, bless her.

the yakisoba is upper left, the other two are rice & veggies and rice & red beans

I stood around for awhile and tried out my Japanese with my neighbors.  I only got my belly rubbed once and it was by a small child so that wasn't so bad.  I asked questions....but sometimes the answers get tangled up in translation.  I'm pretty sure that at least the yakisoba was homemade by neighborhood ladies.  Not 100% sure on the other dishes.  (I did try them all out and all of them were OK.)  And I think that the social was actually for a few of the nearby neighborhoods, not just our little street.

The tan building that you see on the right side of the first photo is a "community building" used for meetings and activities of some sort.  During the social, it was the kid's area.  Apparently there was some kind of drumming lesson going on?  And I really thought someone said something about pirates?  I dunno....




I think that's a drum on the right, but I see no pirates?

Anyway, it was incredibly humid (notice all the sweat rags in the photos below) so I didn't stay too long.  On my way out I did make the acquaintance of a nice man who spoke pretty darn good English and was happy to get to practice it.  He lived in Indiana for a couple of years. 

Some extra photos of the action.....

So there ya go....a Japanese neighborhood social. :)

More On (Mos) Burgers

I think this makes three posts I've done about burgers.  It's just that they are common here and, left to our own devices, we are not that adventurous when it comes to Asian food. 

So today's post is about a popular Japanese fast food burger chain called Mos (pronounced "moss") Burger.  They are pretty easy to find although there isn't one really close to our house and surprisingly, there isn't one at the mall.  So we rarely go there.



The menu is mainly burgers, hotdogs and fries.  Of course, we made straight for the hotdogs the first couple of times we went.  They are OK, which is pretty darn good for a Japanese hotdog.  They even have somewhat decent chili, which is nothing short of a miracle, but it's pretty spicy.  I would not recommend it if you have issues with heartburn.

The burgers, on the other hand, are not that great.  You have to avoid some weird toppings (egg, strange sauces, etc.) and the meat is questionable.  It has the consistency of what I imagine tofu or turkey burgers are like.  The fries are pretty good though.  We always have to ask specifically for ketchup and they bring it in a big cup like it's not something they have to dispense often.  Kinda odd.

Oh, and they have locations all over Asia, but none in North America.  And here's a post from another blog that has some more interesting Mos Burger information.

Baby Customs

This past week some of my fellow expat wives threw me a small baby shower.  America, China and Japan were represented and during the shower I learned some interesting Japanese customs involving baby mementos. 

First, I received as a gift a small wooden box called a kotobuki bako.  This box is meant to store the umbilical cord after it falls off.  Apparently Japanese mothers almost always keep the umbilical cord as a memento.  I know some American mothers do this as well, but as far as I know there isn't a special box you can buy for it.  You can read a little more about this tradition here.  As for whether I will actually use the box for its intended purpose.....the jury is still out.   The jury is leaning heavily towards "no".  I did ask what the kanji on the box said (thinking it said something about the umbilical cord) but I was told it has something to the effect of "happiness" and "congratulations" on it.  So I'm thinking perhaps it could also be used to store baby teeth or baby hair.

kotobuki bako (the sticker is to fill out pertinent
birth details and put on the bottom of the box)

Speaking of baby hair, I learned about another interesting custom regarding how the hair from babys first haircut is kept.  Here you can take it to a salon and they will have it made into a fancy calligraphy brush.  No kidding.  One of the shower guests brought hers from when her son was a baby and showed us.  Unfortunately I didn't get a photo but you can go here and see photos and read more about the custom.  You an also send in baby hair and have a brush made if you want.  From my reading I gather that this custom (as well as the kotobuki bako) are popular in other parts of Asia as well.  Apparently baby hair makes a great brush, but they are almost always just put away as heirlooms.

As for us Americans, the whole concept of a "baby shower" was our contribution.....they are not a tradition here.  We didn't do games but there was plenty of food and presents to "ooh" and "ahh" over.  The Asian ladies were also particularly fascinated by the diaper cake that one of the hostesses put together for me.

All in all, it was a lovely, international, educational, thoroughly enjoyable affair!  ;)

Rock N' Roll

The other day, when I stopped by 7-Eleven, I noticed a flyer on the window.

In case you can't see the bits of English, The Stone Roses, Radiohead and whatever solo nonsense Noel Gallagher (formerly of Oasis) is up to are featured at the Fuji Rock Festival '12.  On July 27-29th.  Now, normally I would at least be looking up the ticket prices but, having gone to a few summer music festivals in my day, I don't quite have the guts to go to one at 8 months pregnant.  Although going into labor at a rock show would be a pretty good story....

I did look it up to see if it really is at Mt. Fuji and.....it is not.  It's actually not that far to the north of us, in more or less the same mountains as Nagano.  At a ski resort.  Go figure.  Oh, and I saw the prices....sheesh.  About $200 for a one day pass.

And, below that you'll notice the Summer Sonic '12 festival featuring Green Day.  It's in Tokyo a little later in the year.  Tempting, as we'll actually be in Tokyo at that point, but again, I'm gutless.  :)